The present invention relates to a sanitary cell for mounting on a bearing structure of crafts and comprising frame elements, functional units, connection conduits having coupling members for connection with the fixed installation conduits and/or functional elements of the craft and fitting elements.
The present application particularly relates to sanitary cells in the form of toilet rooms for mounting in crafts in the form of train wagons. However, the invention will also be applicable in combination with other kinds of sanitary cells in other kinds of crafts.
Thus, the invention also relates to sanitary cells in the form of shower rooms, kitchen rooms and other rooms with technical installations designed to be mounted in crafts for transport by sea, on land and in the air, such as ships, busses and aeroplanes.
Thus, the invention may advantageously be used in all crafts in which a large part of the craft construction has been completed before the mounting of the sanitary cell is initiated. However, the invention and the advantages obtained by it will subsequently only be described with reference to the building of toilet rooms in train wagons.
When building train wagons, one would first mount a wagon frame with wheels and installations related thereto. Next, the outer enclosure in the form of outer walls, floor and ceiling as well as the fixed installation conduits are mounted therein. Then the inside furniture and room partitions as well as the installations that are necessary therein are mounted. So far toilet rooms have been mounted as one of the last things. It has been normal so far for 3 to 5 different trades to work with the mounting and for the total mounting time to extend over 2 to 3 weeks.
This is disadvantageous in several respects.
Thus, mounting takes place in such a manner that the trades in several turns accomplish a partial mounting of the functional units or fitting elements falling within their field of trade. The mounting time is consequently very dependent on a tight and precise control of the partial mountings of the individual trades. If a single, in itself minor, mounting operation is delayed, it will make a subsequent mounting operation impossible or cause considerable delay for it. Therefore, even minor deviations or delays may have considerable influence on the total mounting time of the toilet room and consequently on the time of delivery.
The toilet room is built up as an integral assembled part of the train wagon. Due to the tolerances involved in building it is necessary to perform an individual adaptation of many components. This is very time-consuming, and such individual adaptation may further give rise to considerable delay in subsequent mounting operations.
The fitting elements will often be mounted in an initial stage as they serve as full or partial support of functional units and/or connection conduits. As a major part of the fitting elements is composed of thin cover plates, a damage to these frequently occurs during subsequent mounting of unhandy and heavy elements such as frame profiles, toilet bowl, pipes and the like. This has made time-consuming replacements necessary, wherein there may also have been a need for the cooperation of several trades in dismounting and remounting.
As mentioned, the fitting elements are thin cover plates. In use they are exposed to a load that may cause them to be broken and to require frequent replacements. As the fitting elements serve as full or partial support of technical installations, such subsequent replacement will make it necessary for the train wagon to be taken out of operation for a long period. Thus, there will be a frequent need for dismounting several elements that require the cooperation of several trades. This is obviously time-consuming and costly.
As the toilet room is constructed as an integral part of the train wagon, and since the fitting elements and technical installations are built together, it requires quite considerable storage capacities to be able to produce train wagons with the various requirements made on the type of cover plates, different types of toilet and washing bowls, mirrors, doors and other fitting equipment. The integral construction and the large degree of adaptation to the train wagon in question makes it almost impossible to prefabricate parts of the toilet room.
Furthermore, it is necessary to provide individual toilet rooms for different types of trains, and it is also necessary to adapt the toilet room depending on its position in the train wagon. This leads to demands on the storage capacity, and the individual adaptation makes it difficult to obtain a rational and quick mounting of the toilet rooms.
As the mounting of the functional units takes place in partial mountings, a test of these functional units cannot be performed until after a final mounting of the entire toilet room. If malfunctions occur during these tests, any replacement can only take place after time-consuming dismounting and remounting. Thus, this will cause an undesired delay in delivery.
As the mounting of the toilet room is performed during the final stage of building a train wagon, the mounting time is often decisive for the time of delivery. Since at this moment very large values are tied up in the almost finished train wagon, it is desired for financial reasons to deliver it as soon as possible. Thus, a desire to reduce the mounting time as much as possible has existed for several years. Despite this, satisfactory solutions have not previously been proposed.
There have been proposals for modular building of toilet rooms for mounting in crafts such as trains and aeroplanes. Examples of this are known from DE-OS-42 33 551, DE-OS-43 09 050, DE-OS-43 36 418 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,083,727, among others.
These patent publications propose the use of modules that can be prefabricated and subsequently mounted in the craft. However, no directions are given as to how these modules should be constructed to reduce the mounting time and service time as much as possible. In the publications, e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 5,083,727, which is considered as the closest prior art disclosing the features mentioned by way of introduction, it is described that a module construction unit may be replaced quickly in the case of malfunctions. It is disclosed that functional units are connected with the fixed installation conduits through coupling members. Accordingly, it is possible to dismount the unit from the craft. However, a quick replacement of the unit will not be possible since the craft in which units are placed have accesses with a limited size. Thus, it will be necessary to disassemble a unit in order to take it out or in through the doors of train wagons and/or flight cabins. Thus, the publications do not teach the building of sanitary cells that remedy the disadvantages associated with the known sanitary cells. Only a general description of a possible modular building of a sanitary cell known per se is given.
The object of the present invention is to remedy the above-mentioned disadvantages of known sanitary cells by disclosing a structure in which the functional units may be tested prior to mounting, and which is quickly mounted in a craft, and which is quickly serviced, and which may easily be adapted to different types of crafts as well as the needs of different customers.
This object is obtained according to the present invention by a sanitary cell of the type mentioned in the introduction, which is characterised in that said coupling members are quick release coupling members, that the functional elements have means for direct mounting on the frame elements and are assembled with the latter for the formation of module parts, which are substantially plane, and which have means for mutual assembly of these and for direct mounting of the module parts on the bearing structure of the craft, that the module parts also have means for mounting of the fitting elements on the frame formed by the module parts, and that the frame of a sanitary cell formed by the module parts has a box-shaped outer contour.
As module parts are formed, which contain functional units or a group of functional units, it is possible to perform a test of the ability to function prior to mounting in the craft in question. Therefore, it is possible to avoid the risk of malfunctions in the functional units mounted in the craft and consequently also the risk of a time-consuming dismounting, error correction and remounting. A test of the completely mounted sanitary cell is very simple and fast and substantially exclusively serves to ensure that all connection conduits have been connected. If a few conduits have not been connected, no time-consuming dismounting of elements is required. In general, an error correction may take place simply by removing a fitting element, establish a connection and then remounting the fitting element.
It is possible to place the technical installations to be serviced frequently in one and the same module part. This facilitates servicing. Any replacement may easily be accomplished without the need to take the craft out of operation for long periods. In case of a malfunction in the functional unit, an erector may dismount the module part in which there are malfunctions and remount a new module part, which has been brought. Then a correction of malfunctions of the defective module part may take place in a workshop. It is easy to take the module part out through doors with a limited size. Seeing that each module part is substantially plane it is possible to dismount such module part and not a total unit from the bearing structure and the other module parts and to remove it from the craft through doors even if they have a limited size, e.g. as in air crafts.
As the functional units are mounted directly on the frame elements by the means for that purpose, it is possible to mount the fitting elements as the very last and thus avoid the risk of damaging them. This provides much freedom of choice of different designs of the fitting elements depending on the wishes of the individual customer. Thus, it is possible to mount large series of technical module parts, which may be mounted in different crafts with the fitting elements required/desired in the craft in question. E.g. it will be possible to use the same module parts in different types of train wagons and, likewise, it is also possible to use the same module parts in trains, busses, aeroplanes and ships.
As the frame of the sanitary cell has a box-shaped outer contour, it may be used in crafts irrespective of the profile of its enclosure. Thus, it will be simple to form connections towards walls and ceilings by the use of fitting elements. These fitting elements against walls and ceilings will consequently also be the only elements needing individual adaptation to the craft. However, the adaptation is easy as it often concerns relatively thin covering plates, which may easily be cut/formed with the desired contour for contact against the enclosure of the craft.
It is possible to build the module parts of the sanitary cell concurrently with building the craft in which they are to be mounted. Thus, it will be possible to produce the enclosure of the craft and then bring the module parts into the craft through its door openings in the final stage of final mounting of craft furniture, room partitions, etc. Thus, it is possible to form the sanitary cell from very few module parts, which may be mounted by erectors who need not have particular professional skills. It is only required for the erector to be able to erect the module parts, connect them with each other and with the bearing structure by the means formed for that purpose. These connection means may be very simple and means known per se. E.g. screw connections, nail connections, pin connections or hook connections may be used. Fixed or releasable connection means may be used. The functional units are connected simply and quickly via quick release coupling members. These may be arranged with colour codes or different shapes in order to make faulty mounting impossible.
If a fitting element is damaged or its replacement is desired, this may take place without the need to take the craft out of operation. A erector may simply dismount an element from the module part and remount a new one. The means for mounting the adaptation elements on the module parts are preferably releasable coupling means, e.g. in the shape of catches, VELCRO connections or the like. There will be no need for intervention in the functional units or connection conduits between them and/or the fixed installation conduits of the craft, which are only assembled with the frame elements.
With a sanitary cell according to the invention and in the form of a toilet room for train wagons it has proven possible in practice to reduce the mounting time in the train wagon from 2-3 weeks to about 8 hours. In the mounting it has merely been required to use erectors. Thus, there has been no need to co-ordinate the work of several trades.